Masala Dosa is on almost everyone’s favorite list. The masala dosa that my mom prepares… my mouth is already watering! I have eaten this since childhood and loved it every single time. I like dosa only if it is accompanied by a great curry or side dish or chutney. The sides has to overpower the dosa, only then its fun and for me the normal coconut chutney is not fun :D Now you know why I love masala dosa :D!!

This dish is prepared in n number of ways. The dosa prepared by different people tastes differently. My friend D’s mother used to prepare awesome dosa but it tasted so different from the one at home. In our college days, I used to frequent her house and aunty prepared some really awesome food. They were routine dishes but her engayi, dosa, vaangibhat, puliogre, bisibeLebhaat are unforgettable!  I think every dosa tastes unique and has got to do with the person spreading the batter on the griddle :D!

The following recipe is the way we prepare it at home. Variations can be made to suit your taste.

Ingredients:
For Dosa:
1 cup urad daal
3 cups raw rice
1/2 cup beaten rice medium variety (poha)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
1 tbsp chana daal
salt to taste
water to grind

For potato bhaji:
3  medium potatoes boiled
5-6 medium onions thinly sliced
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp asafoetida
10 curry leaves
5-6 green chillies finely chopped or to taste
1 tsp chana daal (optional)
1/2 cup green peas (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tbsp oil
salt to taste
few sprigs of coriander finely chopped
lime juice to taste (optional)

For coconut ginger chutney:
1 cup grated coconut
1″ piece ginger
1 marble size ball tamarind
2-3 green chillies or to taste
salt to taste

Method:

Dosa Batter:
Wash and soak all the ingredients except poha and salt in sufficient water for 6-8 hours. If you want the dosa for morning, soak the ingredients the previous day morning. Before grinding the batter wash the poha well and keep aside. Drain out the water from the soaked ingredients. Grind together with poha to a fine paste adding little water at a time. Add enough water so you are able to spread the batter but its not too thin or watery. Keep aside for fermentation. This process takes about 8-10 hours depending on the climate and  temperature.

For Bhaji:
The boiled potatoes can either be mashed or diced into 1 cm cubes per choice. I like them diced as they mix well and yet you can see and taste the onions too. Mashing sometimes makes the bhaji sticky. In the end the choice is yours!

Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add the mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the cumin, chana daal, asafoetida, green chillies, curry leaves. Mix for 30 seconds and then add the onions. As the onions turn translucent, add the green peas and fry till the onions are cooked and the peas are soft. Add in the turmeric powder and mix for a min.

Now, add the diced potatoes and mix well. Add salt to taste and few sprigs of coriander finely chopped. Mix well for 3-5 minutes. Add lime juice if you like and mix well. Turn off the flame. Keep aside.

For coconut ginger chutney:
Grind all the ingredients to a fine paste adding little water at a time. Adjust the salt and ginger to taste and keep aside.

For masala dosa:
Once the batter is fermented, add salt to taste and mix well.
Heat the tawa or griddle. Once hot, you could either rub a wet cloth or half an onion. Spread the batter on the tawa. I like them crisp, so I spread it thin. The choice again is yours. Flip the dosa on the other side once the bottom side is cooked. As the other side cooks, flip the dosa back. Spread the potato bhaji in the center in a line. Fold the dosa and take off the flame.

Serve hot with coconut ginger chutney and enjoy the yummy masala dosa! :)

After coming to bangalore, the first thing I probably did was to google for Kolhapuri Misal. My search ended on Sia’s blog Monsoon Spice.

I followed the recipe to the ‘T’ and the end result was as tasty as ever. As I followed the recipe as is with minor adjustments in spice level, I am not rewriting the recipe here. This Kolhapuri Misal recipe is detailed along with mentioning their original sources and due credits.

So have a spicy kolhapuri misal with pav or bread and keep a tissue ready if you get a running nose or tears in your eyes at the sight of spice ;)!!

Ingredients:
2 cups sprouted and cooked moong (green bean)
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 medium tomato finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder or to taste
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
few sprigs of coriander leaves finely chopped
1 tsp lime juice or to taste
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a kadhai. Once the oil is hot, add the onions. Fry for 2-3 min. Once the onions turn translucent, add all the dry powders. Fry for another minute. Now, add the chopped tomato. Fry till the tomato is soft. Add in the sprouted and cooked moong. Mix well for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle lime juice. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot as side dish with chapati or rice!

Misal Pav is one of the most common street food in Maharahstra. I had heard a lot about the tasty misal pav from T. One weekend I decided to give it a shot. The dish came out very well and it is quite filling. I am not sure if it tasted like the original misal pav, but it did taste wonderful.

I have used only matki and moong in this dish. You could also add sprouted musoor as mentioned here.

Ingredients for usal:
1 cup sprouted matki (moth bean)
1 cup sprouted moong (green gram)
2 medium potatoes boiled and cut into cubes
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
2 medium size onions roughly chopped
10 garlic cloves
1-2″ piece ginger
10-15 mint leaves (pudina)
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
4-5 cloves
2-3 peppercorn
1″ cinnamon
1 tbsp tamarind pulp or to taste
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Other Ingredients:
1 heaped cup of chivda
1 heaped cup of fine sev
1 cup chopped tomato
1 cup chopped onion
some freshly chopped coriander leaves for garnish
1 cup well beaten yogurt (optional)
Pav or bread

Method:
Cook the sprouted moong and matki. Make sure they cook nicely but are not mashed.

Grind the 1 medium onion along with ginger, garlic, mint and coconut to a fine paste. Grind the cumin, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon and peppercorn to a fine powder.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Once they start popping, add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Then, add the ground paste. Fry on high heat for about 3 mins and then on medium heat till the raw smell is gone and the mixture oozes out oil.

Now, add the ground powder and fry for a minute. Once done, add the tamarind pulp, salt, sugar and mix well. To this, add the cooked moong and matki along with the potatoes. Add desired amount of water (2-3 cups). The gravy should not be too watery. Bring to a boil. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes on low flame.

To Assemble:
Place the misal in a plate/bowl. Add yogurt, chopped tomato, chopped onion. Add chivda and sev on top.

Serve hot with bread or pav… fried or as is!!

I have posted quite a few rice dishes which would go very well with this raitha. Whenever we make a pulao or biryani at home, without raitha it kind of feels incomplete. So here it is.. the famous onion tomato raitha my way!

For this raitha, you could add a south indian touch by adding a tempering of mustard seeds.

Ingredients:
1½ cups yogurt
2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
1-2 green chillies slit
2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
salt to taste

Ingredients for Tempering (optional)
1 tsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
8-10 curry leaves
1 dry red chilli broken into two

Method:
Take a mixing bowl and add the tomatoes, onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, yogurt and salt. Mix well. If the yogurt is too thick or sour, you could add a little milk and mix well.

If you like to add the tempering here is how to do it. Heat oil. Once hot, add the mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds begin spluttering, add the urad dal. When the dal turns light golden, add the curry leaves and dry red chilli. Let this cool and then add this to the raitha.

Serve with veg or non veg pulao or biryani!!

Bumped into this recipe on master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s website. I was browsing through the website for some simple rice dish which would go with the hyderabadi Mirchi ka Salan when I saw this one. I instantly took a liking to this one. This dish is a non spicy one with the original recipe not containing a single green chilli. I added just one for flavour. The accompaniant for the pulao has to be spicy to make up ;).

Ingredients:
100gm Paneer(cottage cheese) cut into 1/2″ cubes
1½ cups Basmati rice
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1-2 green chillies (optional)
2 tsp sugar
4 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 bay leaf
1″ piece cinnamon
2-3 green cardamom
4-5 cloves
2¼ cups of water
Salt to taste

Method:
Pick, wash and soak the rice in about 3 cups of water for 20-30 mins. Drain and keep aside to dry. Then add 1 tbsp of ghee and sugar. Mix well and keep aside.

Heat the remaining ghee in a thick bottomed pan. Once the ghee is hot, add the paneer cubes. Fry the paneer on medium-low flame till the cubes turn golden on all sides (at least 2 sides). Drain on an absorbent paper and keep aside.

In the same ghee, add the onions and fry them till they turn crispy golden brown. Drain on them on an absorbent paper and keep aside.

Now to the remaining ghee, add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and fry for about 30 seconds. Add in the rice and fry for about 3-4 minutes till you can smell a nice aroma. Now add  the water and bring to a boil. Once the water begins to evaporate and rice comes on top, add the fried paneer. Cover with a tight lid and cook on low flame for 10 minutes. Once done fluff up the rice with a fork and let it stand covered for 5 mins.

Chanar pulao is ready to serve!

The street food is such an integral part of our lives. Be it bunking college to go and have chaats at a nearby stall or going for a stroll in the evening to have a gol gappa. One such integral part of street food is the aloo tikki.

Aloo tikki can be had by itself with tomato ketchup or tamarind/coriander chutney. It is also used in preparing chaats like ragda pattice. Tastes yummy either way.. If you like chaats and aloo.. you will enjoy this one!

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes – boiled and grated or mashed
1 medium onion finely chopped (optional)
4-5 green chillies finely chopped or to taste
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp chaat masala (optional)
1 tbsp kasuri methi
2 tbsp roasted and peeled peanuts – crushed (optional)
Breadcrumbs or semolina as needed
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying

Method:
In a bowl, add the grated or mashed potatoes. To this add onion, kasuri methi, peanuts, green chillies, coriander leaves. Mix well. Now, add the salt, chaat masala or amchur, cumin powder. If you like your tikkis to have a bit of a colour you could add a pinch of turmeric. Mix well. If you think the mixture needs more binding, take a couple of bread slices without edges, dip in water for 2 seconds and add it to the potato mixture. This will make sure the tikkis do not break and add taste too.

Grease your palms with very little oil. Make equal portion of the mixture. Take each portion and make a ball with your palms. Flatten it a bit to make tikki out of it.

Heat a non stick tawa or a skillet. Once hot, drizzle a few drops of oil. Now, roll the tikki in breadcrumb or semolina and place it on the hot tawa. If you do not have either breadcrumb or semolina, frying them without this works as well. Fry on medium-low flame. Turn the tikki  once one side is golden brown (would need 3-4 mins). Fry till the other side is golden brown.

Serve hot with ketchup or sweet chutney or any chutney of your choice!!

Basundi serves as a dessert. Very simple to make with very few ingredients.

The other day while I was boiling milk, the flame was low and I forgot to take a look. The milk kept boiling and got reduced to about half. I did not feel like wasting it and then the thought of Basundi struck. Though it is not one of my favorites solely because whenever I have had this outside, I have found it too sweet to suit my taste buds. This time I enjoyed it, maybe because I adjusted the sugar to our liking :D

You can also add condensed milk for faster results. Use full fat milk for a bit creamier version. For the calorie conscious, low fat milk works as fine.

Ingredients:
1 litre milk (full fat milk gives better result)
¾ cup sugar
½ cup finely chopped dry fruits (cashewnuts, almonds, pistachios)
½ tsp cardamom powder
3-4 saffron strands (optional)

Method:
Take milk in a thick bottomed vessel and bring it to boil. Once the milk starts boiling, reduce the flame to low and let it simmer. The quantity of milk should get reduced by half.

At this point add the sugar, cardamom powder, saffron and let it simmer for another 8-10 minutes. You can also add the dry fruits at this point or use it as garnish if you like it crunchy. Also, adjust the sugar at this point to your taste. The amount of sugar needed depends on your taste and also milk used. Turn off the flame.

Basundi is ready to serve. Can be served hot or cold!

Ingredients:
1½ cups of Basmati Rice
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp cashewnuts (optional)
5-6 cloves
2″ piece cinnamon
2 bay leaves
3-4 green cardamoms
3-4 green chillies or to taste
2 tbsp grated ginger
1½ cups of mixed vegetables (carrot, beans, peas, cauliflower)
2¼ cups water
salt to taste
3 tbsp oil

Method:
Pick, wash and soak the rice in water for about 15-20 minutes. Drain the water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and saute for 10-15 seconds. Add the cashewnuts, cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves. Fry them till the cashews turn a light golden or the cloves puff up.

To this, add the chopped green chillies and ginger. Fry for a minute. Now, add the mixed vegetables and fry them for about 5 minutes.

Add the drained rice and stir. Put in the salt and water. Bring to a boil. Close the lid of the pressure cooker. Turn off the flame after one whistle and let it stand for 20 mins.

Serve hot with raitha or eat it as is!!

Tip: Soak the rice while the vegetables are getting cut. This will save the soaking time and hence the cooking time.

I saw this recipe on ShowMe TheCurry.com and the way it was presented, I could not resist preparing it at home. A couple of ingredients like vinegar and spring onion were missing at home. I replaced vinegar with a dash of lime juice and added a few sprigs of cilantro for flavor and modified the batter for cauliflower.  The end result was awesome! The dish took an hour to prepare and few mins to finish. T loved it too! :)

Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1 tbsp Oil
2 small onions finely chopped
2 tsp garlic finely chopped
3-4 green chilies or to taste
2-3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp red chilli sauce
1-2 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ cup water
1 tsp corn starch
1-2 tbsp green onion or spring onion finely chopped

For the cauliflower florets:
½ cauliflower cut into bite size florets
5 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
3 tbsp corn starch
Salt to taste
¼ tsp pepper or to taste
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
Water
Oil for deep frying

Method:

The sauce is prepared first and then the cauliflower to ensure crispness.

For the sauce, heat oil in a pan. Add the onion, green chilies and garlic. Fry the onions till they turn golden brown. At this point add the tomato ketchup and the red chili sauce. Saute for about 5-6 mins on medium flame. Add soya sauce, salt and vinegar ( I added lime juice in the end instead of vinegar). Mix well. Mix the corn starch in half a cup of water. Stir well and it to the onions. Bring to a boil and stir till the mixture thickens. Turn off the flame and keep aside.

 Now for the cauliflower florets, we need to prepare a batter. Mix the maida, corn starch, salt, pepper, red chili powder, ginger garlic paste with water to make a batter. The consistency should be such to coat the cauliflower evenly.

 Heat oil for deep frying. Dip the florets in the batter and add it to the oil. Fry on medium flame till the cauliflower turns golden brown.

Once all the florets are ready, reheat the sauce. As the sauce heats up, add the fried florets and mix well. Make sure the sauce coats all the florets evenly.

Garnish with green onions and serve HOT!!